Love That Quinoa Burger!

So yummy! If you want a change of pace that’s meat-free, yet full of protein, fiber, and very filling…this might be for you.

I like it with Tzatziki on top (my recipe is in this post), or a little “fry sauce” (what some drive-ins call that wonderful mayo/ketchup combo), and with a thick slice of tomato, avocado, onion and lettuce, as a burger should be, it’s fab.

Don’t be afraid of Quinoa. It cooks just like rice – might even be a little easier! – and can be subbed almost straight across in most recipes. I made Rice Burgers for my kids for years and this is the same recipe, with Quinoa instead.

UPDATE!! I recently found myself without carrots so used shredded zucchini instead. WONDERFUL! And my husband says I have to make them like this from now on. The measurements are in the recipe, also, if you’re interested.)

In a medium saucepan bring the 2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil over high heat. Add quinoa and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 18-20 minutes, or until all water is absorbed and the seeds are tender. Allow to cool for a few minutes.

(To help them stay in patty form and not fall apart, I cook them on med-low slowly so they have longer to set-up without burning. Makes them easier to flip, too.) Heat a frying pan and a couple teaspoons olive oil over medium-low heat. Mixture will be slightly sticky, so using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop mixture into pan and lightly flatten to 1/2 inch thick. Fry until golden-brown, about 4 minutes on each side. Makes approx. 10 burgers.

Oh good heavens – I made these burgers this evening and they are fabulous. Incredibly yummy. I followed your instructions (about cooking on med-low) to let them set up. Very good tip. These burgers tasted wonderful. The mix was a bit wet and a little soft after cooking but the taste is outstanding. Thanks for the recipe.

These were so good!! I read all the reviews and made sure they were’nt to liquidy and they came out great. My batch made about 15! Thank you thank you for this recipie! Also i added some red pepers flakes and cayenne because i like my food spicy🙂

Am ready to cook these immediately!
I can eat aged cheese but not cottage cheese (not even Lactaid).
How about Greek yogurt? Can I substitute the cottage cheese for that? Hope to make this tonight on East Coast. Hmm. Wonder how to reach you!

These are absolutely delicious! To keep the patties from falling apart, I use a big round cookie cutter on parchment paper on a baking sheet and put the mix inside and level it with a spoon. Then I use the cutter to help shape the rest of the patties. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 min, flip over and bake til golden. Then I let it cool completely and freeze between parchment paper. That way it’s ready to go whenever I’m craving one of these as a veggie burger. Love this recipe! Thank you!!!

The photography of the Quinoa Burger is wonderful and should win a Food award.

I just had weight lose surgery on Oct 27th, 2010. I’m trying to find information about using grains and vegetables for my daily 100 grams protein requirement, instead of meat. This Quinoa burger fits the bill. I can’t to try this next month.
Thanks!

My quinoa is red and yellow, and is mixed in a jar… to my understanding there’s no real difference between the plain and red quinoas. They were a little messy, but tasted great, and I am sure a better pan will make them better!! Thanks for the recipe!

HI MY DEAR LINDA…IT HAS BEEN SUCH A LONG TIME SINCE I HAVE SEEN YOU…I USED TO BE ON BEFORE AND AFTER CHAT BOARD.LIKE 8 YEARS AGO…YOU HAD SENT ME SOME REAL GOOD RECIPES AT THE TIME…THESE CHEESE, SCALLIONS, QUINOA BURGERS LOOK AWESOME…I WILL BE TRYING THEM FOR SURE…HOPE YOU ARE WELL…YOU LOOK WONDERFUL…MARILYN QUEEN…COVINGTON GEORGIA..

I haven’t cooked with Farro and I do love barley. I use barley in my Lentil Barley Stew – so good and very filling. Also just a tablespoon or so in my Split Pea Soup. I’ll check farro out. Does it act/cook the same way?

It is wonderful as a salad. I cook it as directed, rinse to cool, then mix with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. I add cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, feta cheese……pretty whatever suits my taste. Very tasty and filling!

So I have a quick question. I found this recipe yesterday and I was really excited to try this out. I followed your ingredients exactly, but for some reason it is not sticking well enough to make patties. So what I have is a very delicious mixture (and it is great, even if not in patty form). I’d love to make this again but as a “burger.” Any suggestions, or do you think it is just maker error.

I am always trying to find ways to avoid egg you just made this a recipe something I can know try so excited. I always have flax seed in the house. I cant have dairy, egg or soy so it makes live some what hard.

These are AMAZING. I made them for my family tonight; I served them on whole wheat deli flats for the family with a choice of fry sauce or a cumin/chili powder sour creams sauce. I ate them on lettuce leaves… My kids LOVED them and one doesn’t like any onions of any kind and the other hates cooked carrots.

Now to figure out how to make these totally vegan – silken tofu and vegan cheese I think.

Great recipe, thanks for sharing! I didn’t have any quinoa on hand but was dying to try these so I substituted some leftover Israeli couscous I had in the fridge. So delicious! I made some tzatziki sauce to put on top and served the patties over a bed of baby spinach.

I made these last night for dinner and they were delish!! I made a homemade tzatzi to go along with them and a green salad. I’ll be eating them for lunch today. I think they would be great as a small appetizer as well.

Do you fry them in a teflon pan or what? I used my stainless steel with olive oil and they stuck like crazy. They taste wonderful but don’t look anything like yours. Am thinking of maybe adding just a bit more flour as they seem to be falling apart on me. Any suggestions?

I did use a non-stick pan with the olive oil…got it totally heated before adding the patties. A little more flour would help hold them together, yes. I hope they work next time – I want you to love them!

In a lot of recipes that require a binding factor to hold things together, there is a combination of e.g. eggs & breadcrumbs. See: crab cake patties. Generally with an appropriate ratio of binder (not much) to the material you’re trying to get to stick together, and an appropriate use of flavorings, there really is no readily discernible egg flavor/texture in the end product.

It just makes a “cohesive whole” patty rather than a “falling apart” patty. Same thing in meatloaf. With a quick mix in, the egg proteins unwind into microscopic sticky strings that then “rope up all the loose cattle.” A non-stick pan (teflon or properly seasoned cast iron) does help to avoid the “falling apart patty” problem as well.

Thanks for the recipe, OP… Quinoa’s great because it packs such a hefty healthy protein wallop for a grain, and tastes great on its own even… nice nutty flavor. Will have to try patties next time I have leftover Quinoa.

I made this exactly as the recipe said to. It seemed very wet to me. I did not forget the eggs as someone else did. Perhaps it was the brand of cottage cheese. Your recipe did not state a brand or a curd size. I used the store brand in a large curd because I needed the rest for something else.

I cooked 2 burgers and still felt it was too wet. So I added a couple more tablespoons of floor to it. That was better but still did not come out as firm as it looks in your photos. I do live in Florida so where I am might be more humid and is effecting the recipe.

I did like the flavor and the aroma very much. I would make this again. If you have any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

I’m glad you tried it…and hopefully it works well next time!
I use small curd – any brand. I do know that the large curd seems more liquidy, so that was most likely the culprit. Although adding in more flour should have helped quite a bit. One thing to make sure is that the quinoa is very dry. If using twice as much water as the seed kept it too moist, then just subtract a couple tablespoons of water next time when cooking the quinoa.
Happy Cooking!!

This was delicious! I’m always looking for quinoa recipes but none ever turned out as fabulous as this one did. I loved the taste of these burgers, but the only problem I had was that they didn’t hold together very well when I was frying them. Will try adding more flour next time.

Hi Linda,
I hate Quinoa – I have had it a couple of times and yuck.
But since this was you – I had to try it..
Loved it!!
I make them and freeze them. 1 patty is the perfect work day lunch. they transport easy and do just the trick at noon.

Love them and thanks again.
Now onto that new cookie recipe you posted…..

I read your blog post!! I like your writing…and I agree with you on the cottage cheese. I eat 4% fat and nothing else – and to that I sometimes add cream! I try to be careful…but cottage cheese is meant to be decadent!

I made these burgers again. But I turned them into crab cakes. I used the same recipe cut in half. I then added an 8 ounce container of crab claw meat.

It was excellent. Since last time I had a problem with it being too wet I didn’t use a store brand of cottage cheese. I used a brand called Friendship and it was a very dry cottage cheese. I think it turned out to be the best crab cakes I’ve ever had.🙂

I’m going to try these tonight. Linda, do you, or any readers out there, know if and how well these hold up refrigerated and reheated? If okay, best way to reheat? They’ll probably be for just me and a little one; doubt the hubby will go for them, so even cutting the recipe in half, it’s still a lot.

I have made these twice now and LOVE them. They are especially delicious with the avocado, tomato and special sauce. I ran out of quinoa and had to cut the recipe in half and only used one egg. The patties still came out great!

Lovely recipe.
I’m trying to remove a lot of meat from mine and my childrens’ diets, and this went down a storm with them.
The oldest (7 y.o) helped make the mix with me, and was chuffed with his results.
I popped a bit of fresh chilli in my own and served them up with homemade chutney, bean salad and beer battered wedges.
The kids had a normal salad, wedges and mayo.
Will definitely be trying this again and again.
Thanks!

These photos looked amazing so i tried the recipe today. I didnt follow it exactly and left out the cottage cheese. Had a hard time getting the consistency right as my patties kept falling apart initially but more eggs and bread crumbs helped that. Flavour wise and crunchy-ness wise, these were fabulous🙂

I’m also gluten free so this recipe i hope becomes a staple in my lifelong diet and I have you to thank for it!

I haven’t tried these yet, but while reading this, I have been thinking that garbanzo flour would work great, possibly enhancIng even more the crispy outer texture. The look of these in the puctue made me think of Indian pakora.

I stumbled on this recipe and thought it sounded really delicious, then I found out that the Vegan, Vegetarian and Pescetarian Club on campus was having a potluck dinner, and I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to try it out.

Holy cow!

All the vegetarians and and meat-eating supporters snarffed this down like nobody’s business! It was a HUGE success! So delicious. I’m very glad I tried it.

tzatziki is actually a sauce made from greek yogurt and cucumbers, with a few other minor add ins, commonly used on gyros. not ketchup and mayo.
other than that i love this recipe and it was delicioussssssssssss!

[…] to be on Pinterest when I came across an amazingly tempting photo of what turned out to be a ‘Quinoa Burger’. I couldn’t pass it up so I tracked down the recipe to Eating Well, Living Thin a blog […]

I made these for dinner last night and they were so very, very good. Thank you for posting the recipe. I’ve since passed it on to family members and friends. I did substitute the flour for chickpea flour to keep it gluten-free, left out the sugar and used two cloves of garlic, but otherwise, I followed it to the letter.

Do you know what I could use to replace the cottage cheese so that my son (who has a milk protein allergy) could eat these? We have Daiya cheese to replace the regular cheese, but I didn’t want to mess up the consistency by leaving out the cottage cheese. Thanks!

Part of the problem will be the patties holding together without the melty-binding-ness of cottage cheese, but adding in another egg white (or whole egg) should help with that.

This may work well – definitely worth a shot. Measure as you would the cottage cheese. I love tofu, anyway and it just may be fabulous in those burgers! (Found this online, but can’t remember where, or I’d give credit…)

Divide tofu in half. Place 1/2 in blender or food processor with remaining ingredients. Puree until smooth. Place other half of tofu in bowl and mash with fork. Pour blended tofu mixture into bowl and stir to mix.

[…] Quinoa Burger. I am so obsessed with quinoa right now that I put it in everything. Last night I put it in my salad; I have have quinoa flakes to sprinkle on my oatmeal. So while this is in no way out of my comfort zone, it’s much more complicated and measured than the veggie burgers I’ve been making are. I think I’ll eat this broken up over some greens, or even with a fried egg on top– either way, I will let you know! […]

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John, the mixture is very wet and would fall through your grill grid. You could try freezing the patties first and putting them on foil. But I would think it would burn or slide through before it cooked. But you could always toss one on the grill to test it.🙂

They’re delicious! We’re at ‘the cottage’ and I forgot cottage cheese so, some tweaking had to occur😉 They still hold together quite well (halved the recipe, with one egg and two-ish tablespoons of flour) and are oh-so-yummy! Thank you for the recipe🙂

Loved the quinoa burgers. Even the meat eaters had seconds and ate them enthusiastically and my vegetarian daughter and i really loved them! Thank you for a wonderful recipe that will be making a regular appearance at our dinner table.

Does anyone know if we can freeze these? When you make the full recipe it is so much I don’t want it to go to waste. Just not sure how good quinoa freezes. Thanks for any advice! These are delicious! I’m on Weight Watchers and this is a great dish very low in points.

Others have tried ground silken tofu for the cheese and eggs…haven’t heard back how that worked, but it’s worth a shot. If, for some reason, they don’t hold together as patties, I’d scramble the whole thing in a pan and use it as a filling for tacos or burritos, etc.

I had to tell you about the modifications I made to this for my cookout catering event yesterday. I “southwest-ified” them by adding corn and black beans and some fresh cilantro. I did a test batch baking them…and they stuck to the pan. I did a test batch frying them and they fell apart on me. It very likely had something to do with the fact that I rarely measure anything.😉 Anyway, I added more egg and more flour. Then, I put foil on a cookie sheet, sprayed it with cooking spray and put it under the broiler until it was hot. I took it out and put my patties on it and cooked them at 350 until hot and firm. Once they were cooled they stayed together so perfectly that I could just throw them on a hot grill. I served them with homemade pico de gallo, but they just as easily could have been served on a bun with all the toppings. I got rave reviews about how moist they were. Thanks again for the inspiration!!

[…] Quinoa burgers with Trader Joes onion rings and shoestring fries (to offset the healthiness of the quinoa burgers) and broccoli (to offset the indulgence of the onion rings and shoestring fries). I haven’t made this yet, I think it will be our Friday night dinner. […]

I just made these tonight.. and YUM! I did make a few adjustments, and need to work on it, as mine came out really good, but very delicate.

My daughter has an egg allergy, so I substituted 3 flax eggs for the egg (3 Tbs flax meal and 6 Tbs water blended before adding to the mixture). This is probably why they were so delicate. They shaped well into patties, but got a bit soft as they cooked, though they did stay in a burger form. I also didn’t have any cottage cheese, so added a bit more shredded cheese, which probably contributed to the softness.

These will definitely be going into my recipe box, and I look forward to using cottage cheese next time, to see if that makes a difference with the texture. Thank you for sharing this recipe!

I LOVE these and make them a couple times a month. Last night I didn’t have carrots so I used grated zucchini instead and added an extra egg white because of the liquid in the zucks. Turned out SUPER and my husband said they were his favorite this way!

I made these last night and they were AMAZING. Thanks for the recipe! I live in Holland and can’t find cottage cheese so I mixed plain yoghurt and chopped feta cheese together as a substitute. I used both carrot and zucchini for more veg and added parsley and a hot pepper just for fun. Thanks again!

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[…] up a batch of said burgers and I think these are now in our regular rotation. I discovered the recipe here but found that you really do need to add some bread crumbs (or maybe just the extra flour?) to keep […]

These are super yummy! I doubled the recipe – but only added 5 eggs (and I think I could have gone with 4 – as they were still a little soft/wet). They went over great with my little ones (3 1/2 and 21 months old) and my Carnivore husband. I served them like potato pancakes with a small dollop of sour cream, and a side of apple sauce, and some oranges – they were very breakfast-y feeling to me – and super yummy! great recipe!

Found this while the kids were playing after school and just had to make it. Used almond cheese and silk tofu instead of the cheeses, using the rest of the tofu for chocolate pudding, since daughter is allergic to dairy…as I only cook my quinoa 12-15 min and mixed this hot (it was a late last min dinner) I did not need the eggs, they made my patties too runny.

All three of my picky eaters loved it! Kids actually ate without complaining!!!

I’m excited to make these! However my son has a dairy AND soy allergy, so I’m trying to figure out how to sub the cottage cheese. I used Daiya vegan cheese for the regular shredded cheese…but I’m still working on the cottage cheese substitution that’s soy-free. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks, these are delicious! I used coconut oil for frying, which I think is a great complementary flavor, and many nutritionists say it’s the healthiest oil for cooking because it is more stable at high temperatures even than olive oil.

I came across this recipe/your blog on Pinterest. I made these for dinner last night. They were yummy! My discerning husband liked them. My extremely picky 5 year old had a bite & said it was okay (which is a big deal since she will often act like tasting something new is the end of the world). While I followed the recipe last night, I like that it’s something that can be customized to different tastes & to accommodate people with some allergies. I actually just reheated one for an early lunch. Delish! Thank you!

I also saw your recipe/blog on pinterest and I made these for dinner last night. My son who is thirteen absolutely loved these. The only problem was that I made the recipe the night before and I had used the zucchini. The zucchini had leached out some moisture so they didn’t form a nice patty. I had to drop it into the pan with a spoon. It is probably not a good idea to make the day before but otherwise these were a big night. It is nice not to have meat every night for dinner for health reasons and cost.

Next time when you want to make them a head of time form them then put them in the freezer. I take them out as I need them and baked them in the oven. I just spray them with some non-stick cooking spray. Read some of the other post. There’s a lot of great ideas that people have tried. Also depending where you live you may have to add more flour. I had to. I live in Florida and it is very humid here.

I made this tonight subbing out sweet potato for the carrot and using 6 teaspoons of flower since I had large curd cottage cheese. I’ll definitely be making this again! It was quite delicious! Thank you for sharing it!

These were amazing! I came across these (and your website) from Craftzine.com, and decided to give these a try as I had quinoa sitting around and no recipe! Followed the recipe to a t and loved them – even my picky eater honey loved them too🙂

Hi Linda,
Your Quinoa burger looks downright beautiful. I’ll try it this week with the zucchini. But your list of ingredients had one very serious flaw: SPLENDA. Many people think Splenda to be a natural sugar substitute but it is most definitely not. It is a poison as bad as Aspartame. The manufacturing process removes the natural molecules of sugar then replaces them with three atoms of Chlorine. Chlorine is finding its way into many of our foods today and you must know it is in our tap water so be wary, and please inform your readers. ciao.

I tried these tonight and they were a disaster. They were so sticky they stuck to my hands when trying to form the burgers, but then when frying them up, the edges kept falling apart, especially when I tried to flip them. Any suggestions? The recipe tastes great, I just can’t seem to make good burgers from it. Help!

Oh, no!! I’m sorry they are giving you fits. I actually don’t form them into patties with my hands…I just drop the mix into the skillet in a mound and then very slightly flatten it down. I find the lower the heat the more they cook inside, without getting too dark on the outside, before having to flip them and that makes it a lot easier.

Adding in another tablespoon of flour would help, or cornstarch if you don’t want the flour. (The quinoa needs to be fairly dry. If, after cooking it for 18-20 minutes, it’s still sticky instead of like long-grain-rice-dry, I leave it on low heat, uncovered, for a few minutes, stirring now and then, to dry it out. But usually just sitting for awhile and cooling off takes care of that.)

Ah, well, I’m an idiot. I totally forgot to add flour to the mix! I bet that’s what went wrong. I did, towards the end, start sprinkling flour on the patties and that did help so we were actually able to have the burgers last night and I have to say, they tasted delicious, even if they weren’t the prettiest. I will definitely try them again – WITH FLOUR! LOL!

The cottage cheese needs to be very dry. The store brand is always way too wet. You also want to make sure the quinoa is cooked very dry. I live in Florida and its very humid here. So I use a lot more flour than the recipe calls for.

These are absolutely delicious, thank you for the recipe! I made these for the first time last Thursday, and we liked them so much, I made them again Sunday for lunch. Very, very tasty.

The first time I made them, it was probably the first time in years I didn’t have carrot on hand, so i chopped some spinach and used that, they were delicious that way as well, it’s definitely a versatile recipe.

The last time I made them with both red and yellow quinoa, so they weren’t quite as pretty, but delicious nonetheless.

This looks absolutely delicious! But is there anything I can use as a substitute for cottage cheese? I can’t stand it and wouldn’t want to buy a container just for this recipe if the rest would go to waste. Would silken tofu work?

I have had some folks make them with ground/crumbled tofu and it seems to work fine. The cottage cheese does get melty and kind of helps in holding them together, so you may need to add more cheddar or another egg white. But as far as taste, I think it would be great!

I have another Quinoa burger recipe and it was just okay!! So I am hoping that this has better flavor! I love reading all of the wonderful replies and hints! I am in agreement with the splenda remarks also. I am a Stevia user, so I will def. try the Stevia instead! Thanks for another great Quinoa recipe!

These are delicious! I saw the recipe, ran to see if I had everything and PRESTO! I left out any sweetener, they didn’t need it. I also used whole wheat flour and didn’t have green onion, so I left them out. I used olive oil for frying the first two batches. The first 4 stuck a little but the second batch stuck and fell apart. I threw everything back in the bowl, added more flour and they were fine. The last few burgers were fried in Pam olive oil, they seemed to burn a little easier. I just wish I didn’t have to fry them at all, makes such a healthy meal not so healthy. Made the Tzatziki to go on top, amazing! Thank you!!!

these are amazing! i love them and have already recommended to my friends to try. this recipe is great b/c i love quinoa but don’t know what to do with it sometimes. and i love that i have enough for the week for easy meals…last night i ate it like a burger on deli flats bread, and i plan on putting it on a salad for lunch today. they’re even good by themselves!

These were fantastic!! I rarely have success with making veggie type burgers the always fall apart on me, but these were perfect!! I used leftover porridge I had made for breakfast with quinoa, millet and amaranth. Thank you so much for this great recipe!

Yes, I think they would work with buckwheat. Originally I made these with cooked rice…and as long as it’s not too dry (for the stick-together factor) they would be really great! Thanks for the suggestion…never thought of using that!

I made these today and I must say that they were not picture perfect like yours! They did taste good though and it was a nice alternative to the boring ham sandwich I usually have for lunch. As a tip for others, try using an ice cream scoop to place each portion in the pan and then flatten out a little. Or you can cook it more like ground meat and make burritos or put in a pita pocket too!

I made these for dinner last night for my husband, 2 kids and myself. The kids were divided, one loved them and one said they were OK. Hubby and I loved them….easy to make and mine turned out beautifully. Will add these to our repertoire and I’m going to share it with my sister in law, she loves Quinoa

Oh yeah, and I also used Dry cottage cheese from the natural food store, an extra egg and more cheese and instead of regular flour, I used whole wheat as we’ve switched to all whole wheat stuff and they were fantastic.

I made these for dinner last night with the Tzatziki sauce and a side salad. I have a meat & potatoes husband and babysitter and two picky boys – so nobody was more surprised than I was when they were a runaway hit. Thanks for the great recipe!

I haven’t baked them, but a friend of mine did and said they worked great.

This is what she did: ” I added more egg and more flour. Then, I put foil on a cookie sheet, sprayed it with cooking spray and put it under the broiler until it was hot. I took it out and put my patties on it and cooked them at 350 until hot and firm. Once they were cooled they stayed together so perfectly that I could just throw them on a hot grill. I served them with homemade pico de gallo, but they just as easily could have been served on a bun with all the toppings. I got rave reviews about how moist they were. Thanks again for the inspiration!!”

Whole wheat flour – if it’s finely ground – would work fine. It’s simply a binder and the white is more “pasty” so that helps hold them together, but whole wheat would also give a nice nuttiness to the flavor.

The sugar/Splenda isn’t absolutely necessary. I just use a little sweetener in my savory recipe to bring out the flavors – much the way salt does in desserts and such!

Don’t know if u will read this reply to post from a year ago, but I just made these today, YUMMY!!!!!!!! I had some trouble with the patties sticking though, at first I realized I forgot the flour, then I added it, still was sticking like glue-gloppy mess. I was sooo irritated I nearly did what I seem to always do and pop it under the broiler to get it “crispy” only to have yet another sticky gloppy-gluey mess.

So I let cleaned the pan yet again, I was beginning to think I can only do recipes like this with a non-stick pan grrr!, but I persevered and remembered that when cooking meat u have to wait for the sear to happen b4 u flip or u will have a sticking issue. So I waited longer than I wanted fearful I would have a burnt on sitcky-glooey-glop mess..yet I was able to flip without sticking and it was fabulous!!!

I wonder if perhaps I added extra T or 2 to the mix if that helped somewhat or bc I didn’t flatten at all-maybe I was making it stick, or just letting crust up browner than I thought helped-maybe all of the above? But when I look at ur patties they look just like mine and did I mention how much I LOVE THEM??? Even my 17 month old son ate them up, YUM, YUM, YUM!!!! I will be making these regularly and I will make extra Quinoa just for this recipe.

Yes, I am notified of all comments…and THANK YOU for taking the time to write! I’m so glad you got them to work and they turned out yummy. And I LOVE the ideas you gave. The flavored quinoa is so fabulous, I bet! I will try that next time. I just made these a couple days ago – it’s one of my recipes that I can’t seem to go very long before having to make them again!

I do think they would be great meatballs…might not be perfectly round, but still super. I would fry them first (or bake until done) because the mixture is soft enough that it would fall apart when just dropped into a sauce or gravy, etc.

[…] So you know when you see a recipe and you want to make it only because it’s healthy and trendy. But when you do, it usually don’t turn out very well and you eat it anyway. You some how screw it up and it ends up with a terrible texture? Yes! This happens to me ALL of the time. This isn’t that type of recipe! Yay! This was unbelievably delicious. I haven’t figured out what to eat with it yet, but as usual I ate it all. I got this recipe from Eating Well Living Thin. […]

I found this recipe on Pintrest and had to try it. I’m glad I did, it’s my new favorite. I have burgers the night I make them and then eat the leftovers for breakfast until they are gone. Very, very good!

Made these tonight and 2 out of 3 liked them. (I think the 1 would like it if I leave out the green onions.) For my own family, there is no way I could call the burgers- so we’ll be calling these quinoa patties. Thanks for giving us some variety to our meals.

I made them today. They didn’t turn out like the photo but they were very yummy. This was my first experience with quiona. I think I should have cooked it in less water and then the mixture would have been better. Thanks for the recipe. I look forward to trying it again.

These look amazing! I scrolled thru all of the comments and I’m suprised no one has asked about baking them instead of pan frying! Have you ever baked them in the oven before? Any suggestions for temperature level and time to cook?

I think they’d be fine that way. As long as the pan was spritzed with some oil or PAM. And then maybe flip them half way through for a crispier “crust”. About 350 for 25-30 minutes should do it, depending on how thick you’d make them.

I use all purpose or unbleached white. Anything that is finely milled to help with the binding and holding together of the burgers is best. Flours like soy, quinoa, rice, even cornstarch…anything would work.

i have to say..i saw this (and i’m not even sure how i found this..) back before thanksgiving…i’m on WW’s..and also dont eat meat as well as many other “proteins”..this was such an AWESOME recipe…..i’m about to make another batch (holidays have messed up eating a little lol)…i did cook two patties after making…and premeausured and froze the rest..but didnt do well trying to cook them as patties…i like the crispy outside..so i’ve just flopped them in the pan..and have it like scrambled quinoa patty..lol…it works..and still tastes good..not sure what i’ll do on this next back to still be able to eat them in patty form…havent decided lol…but i wanted to leave a comment at how much i love these!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I made these for dinner and everyone – from my husband to my 3 yo – LOVED them! Had to make them again just 3 days later🙂 Thank you for a healthy and delicious recipe!

I made these, they are delicious! I had to change the recipe a little though. I added alot more flour until they had a thick enough consistency to form into a flat burger patty. I also drained the mixture in a mess strainer before adding the flour. I used canola oil enough only to cover the bottom of the pan and kept it on low, they turned out perfectly.

[…] recipe a try! I know you won’t be disappointed! For the quinoa patty recipe, I found it at Eating Well…Living Thin and the tzatziki from the lovely Linda as well linked later in the quinoa patty […]

[…] curried chickpea burgers, pesto portobello burgers. Why stop there? I saw this great recipe for quinoa burgers on Pinterest and made them as quickly as my griddle could pre-heat. I love quinoa and have been […]

People have used crumbled tofu in place of the cheeses and said it worked well. May have to add another egg (or egg white) since part of the binding comes from the cheese. And yes, whole wheat would be fine!

Thank you for such an amazing and healthy recipe! I just discovered quinoa was trying to figure out how to include it in our meals. Even my husband and in-laws, who are skeptical of healthy and new foods loved it. It was super filling, light on calories and delicious! Your sauce recipe was also brilliant! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!

Found you via Pinterest! I finally got around to making these tonight… well, kind of…
First off, our grocery store didn’t have plain quinoa, only a preseasoned wild rice/quinoa box mix, so that’s what I used. Cooked the quinoa/rice per package instructions. Then, I subbed plain greek yogurt for the cottage cheese (which I rarely purchase), mozzerella cheese for cheddar, and used the shredded zucchini. Left out the green onions, didn’t have any. Even with all those substitutions, these came out fabulously – held together perfectly in the pan and taste great! This is my first time with quinoa and I’m so glad I tried your recipe first, it’s great!!

This is soooo delicious, definately going into my meal rotation. I served it on a large piece of lettuce with red onion, pickles and a mayo/ketchup mix, YUM!! Thank you for a wonderful meatless recipe.

Made half a recipe of this tonight so in case I didn’t like it I would only have to throw away a half a recipe. It is AWESOME and I could have eaten all of it. A friend came down and tried one of the patties and loved it too. We both came up with a bunch of ideas on different variations to try. Going to be trying lots of quinoa recipes.

I bought quinoa a while back but wasn’t too fond of it as a side dish so I was happy to find this recipe. I didn’t fry mine in oil, instead sprayed the pan. Even my bf said it was pretty good and he doesn’t like anything healthy. I measured each one in 1/4 measuring cup but somehow I got 15 instead of 10. Will probably have to put two on a roll instead of 1 since they’re smaller, but they’re still delicious and I’m so excited to have something to pull out of the freezer for myself when my bf wants something fattening for dinner🙂

[…] usual, the web didn’t let me down and gave me some good inspiration for our meal: Quinoa Burgers with Tzatziki Sauce (fluffy falafel to come in a future post!). I used the recipes as a base but […]

[…] and handy, they also look beautiful and inspire me to make delicious food (and coffee). Maybe some quinoa burgers or some caramelized onion and goat cheese cornbread will be on the not-too-distant […]

I had pinnd these on Pinterest a few months ago and finally made them today. WOW! Amazing flacor. I didn’t have cheddar do I used feta instead. Will be making again and again. Love that it makes so many and I can stash them in freezer for breakfast and lunches during the week. Thanks!

I just found these on pinterest today and am so glad I did! I have yet to try making my own veggie style burgers at home and have no reason why. These look amazing and I have them on my list to make this week!! Glad I found your site!

Found this recipe on Pinterest. As a vegetarian, I always appreciate a new, healthy protein option. I made half a batch to try them out, and I loooved them! These will be added to my regular menu and will be stocking up my freezer. Thanks for a great and healthy recipe!

I made these burgers today. Very tasty. Would love to make them again IF I didn’t have them fall apart when I went to flip them over. Cooked a minute longer and burger would stick to pan and still fall apart.
For me, the burgers took longer then 4 minutes per side.
What am I doing wrong?

I’m not sure why some have more difficulty with them falling apart. I’m wondering if humidity or altitude has something to do with it. Or how much moisture is left in the quinoa. ??

If they do that for me I add a little more flour or another egg white and that helps a lot . I cook them on fairly low heat so that they set up throughout the burger before I have to flip. If it takes longer that’s fine, turn the heat down low enough that they can just get golden but the egg cooks on the inside and then flip. I hope this helps…and I’m glad you liked them!

Made them last night and loved them! I wanted to have some cold for breakfast but I wanted them for supper. My first fell apart but then I turned down the heat a little and left them longer. My mom thought they were great also! The recipe is a winner!

People have baked them…formed into patties laid on a greased (or sprayed with PAM) baking sheet and baked at 350 for about 25-30 minutes or until firm. (I might broil them for a minute or so to crisp and golden them up a bit…if they needed it.)

I reheat mine in the microwave, but on foil in a toaster oven would be great, too!

[…] Have you been eating quinoa? I was slow to get on this train, but we really like it. I struggle to get enough protein in my diet and quinoa seems a good addition. Enter: The Quinoa Burger by Eating Well Living Thin. Check it out here. […]

Made this tonight and I loved them. I used an ice cream scoop to scoop which worked perfectly. I then got 12 burgers. I might use a little less even next time to make them just a bit crispier. Also, I would not put the splenda into the tzatiki, not necessary and I will probably 1/4 increase up on the spices in the burgers. Very yummy.

I recently found this recipe on Pinterest while looking for different meatless meals to make my family while we celebrate Lent. A fish fry every week gets boring and expensive. We made these today and everyone (which includes my husband, a 1 year old and a 2.5 year old) loved them! Thank you very much for this recipe! 🙂

These do freeze well. I like to cook them all at once and then stack between wax or parchment paper and freeze. But you could also form them into patties on a parchment lined cookie sheet – allow to freeze solid and then put in bags.

I made these last night and they were so good!! I featured them on my blog with a link/credit to you- hope thats okay! If you are not okay with that just let me know. Thanks again! You are talented.
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[…] I’ve been on a health kick recently – being a blogger means a lot of sitting on your butt, and that can lead to…well, a larger butt. Fortunately, the Internet is full of fantastic recipes, including this one for quinoa burgers. I haven’t made them yet, but I plan on doing so soon. Maybe I can make the fries from last week’s Food Tuesday to accompany them. “Love That Quinoa Burger!” -Eating Well…Living Thin […]

Shila, it looks as if you can serve it as appetizers and/or also you can make them into (if made large enough – you can serve as burgers, if smaller in size – you can serve as sliders) either way, looks great and I bet it tastes great too.

Yes…that’s all I did to my recipe. Sub out the quinoa for the same measurement of rice. I like the regular long grain, but if you wanted to use brown (or a combo) that would work, too. For these, I liked to cook the rice just before making the burgers rather than use leftover, which can become super hard and dry.

If you find they won’t hold together, add another tablespoon of flour or an egg.

I just made these with the zucchini. They were a total hit. My husband kept saying how much he liked them. I used a cookie cutter in the skillet to keep them round (the same one I used for biscuits). BTW, they taste great with avocado.
Thank you for sharing.
Mercedes

This looks great… so glad I found it on pinterest! I didn’t read all the comments, so this may be a repeat, but… I did see someone say they converted them into crab cakes, but while I wasn’t thinking that, I did think that these would probably be amazing with some remoulade sauce and a spinach salad like you would find crab cakes.

Also, something that I like that you may want to try: I cook wheat berries and quinoa together in a veggie beef stock by Better Than Bullion to make my own “ground beef” for the best chili you’ve ever had. Tons of good things, nutritionally, same texture as meaty chili.

hmm… now that I’m scanning a few more comments, I’m envisioning these as little bite size “meat” balls that could be sauteed and then covered with all kinds of fun things from bbq sauce and grilled pineapple, to a tikka masala with some roasted root veg on the side… I am seeing this as a serious staple in my kitchen!

[…] Quinoa and Potato Croquettes, which are particularly tasty topped with Moroccan Chermoula. The quinoa burgers I found on Pinterest are along the same lines as the croquettes without the potatoes. They are much […]

These were so wonderful. Served them with your fry sauce. Hubby had them on a bun with all the trimmings. I ate them with only fry sauce. So tasty. I read the comments beforehand, so added 1/4 cup less water to the quinoa when cooking it, plus 1 more Tbls of flour. Almost held together perfectly. Husband doesn’t think it’s a meal without meat, but I got a number of thumbs-up while he was chewing. Served with your Chinese Cabbage Salad. Yummy Yum.

We are just beginning to eat 2 meals per week Vegetarian. What a wonderful way to start out.

Some people have suggested trying crumbled tofu to replace the cottage cheese. I’ve not done it, but I would also add maybe another egg white or whole egg…maybe. The cottage cheese does have some binding properties, so that MIGHT be needed. There is a mock cottage cheese recipe that sounded good, too!

Divide tofu in half. Place 1/2 in blender or food processor with remaining ingredients. Puree until smooth. Place other half of tofu in bowl and mash with fork. Pour blended tofu mixture into bowl and stir to mix.

Shawn…these freeze very well after cooked. I wrap them individually and then can take out one or two at a time. Perfect gently reheated in the microwave or wrapped in foil in the oven.

Some folks have talked about freezing BEFORE cooking, and that would work too. I would freeze them formed into patties on a baking sheet covered with wax or parchment paper. Leave until frozen solid and then wrap individually, as well.

Thank you so much for what looks like what will be a favorite recipe at my house. As a lover of all things quinoa, I am excited to try it. This will be something new and different for us. I will have to skip the sweetener and the flour to make it gluten free and low on the glycemic index, but I think it will still work out fine. Thanks again. Is is okay for me to pin this post on Pinterest and link it to your blog to spread good word of you there on Pinterest?

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these burgers! I made them, put them on parchment uncooked, froze them and then just let them thaw a bit and threw them in a pan. I love them on my 100% WW air buns with 1/2 an avocado sliced on top and a table spoon of greek yogurt. Also for people looking out there – Costco now carries a 4lb bag of organic quinoa for $9.50!

Just made these for dinner tonight and they’re really good. As a note though, they make WAY MORE THAN THE 10 burgers the recipe claims. I made them exactly as the recipe states, and used a 1/4c measuring cup like the recipe states, and came out with more than 20 burgers! *faint*

You can find quinoa in most bigger grocery stores, either by the rice/beans or pasta. Most often it’s in the “health food” section. Someone told me that Costco now carries it, but, of course, it’s a HUGE bag!!

I made these the other night and my husband and I LOVED them. I made 4 patties, one for each of us and then a couple left over for lunches. Then with the leftover quinoa mixture I made little quinoa nuggets for my 3 year old. I just formed little nuggets and baked them on a sheet pan…I can’t remember now, probably around 400º for 15 minutes and I flipped them half way. I ended up with a bunch so they are now in my freezer waiting to rescue me from having to cook dinner or make lunch on a day I’m just too tired or busy. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

p.s. I get quinoa for dirt cheap from a local co-op but I have also bought it at Costco for a really great price as well! It is a big bag but it lasts forever🙂

I tried this absolutely deicious recipe and both my husband and I loved it! I am wondering how to flip it though. I dont know if my mixture is too wet, but I find that they fall apart when I try to flip them. Anyone else have this problem or am I just doing something wrong?

It could be that you need to add another tablespoon or so of flour or even cornstarch. The mixture should be fairly thick and hold together and stay formed when you make a patty in your hand, without leaving you super sticky-icky.

What I do, too, is cook them at a lower temp for LONGER before flipping…this helps the egg cook through and they are still golden-brown without burning and flip easily. Hope this helps!!

This is now my new favorite veggie burger! They were a little thin, I will work on making them thicker next time (I cut the recipe in half since I wasn’t sure if we would like them so my proportions were off). Cooked them low & slow in a garlic flavored olive oil and had no problems flipping. Topped them with roasted red peppers, spinach, sprinkle of parm and basil mayo, yum!

I’m not a vegetarian but these were very good! I only had cheddar and chives which I used alot of (no carrot zucc or cc) but they turned out great. Went really good with pork chops and beets🙂 Thanks for the great idea.

I just tried this and its VERY tasty!!! It reminds me more of a fritter than a burger, but I LOVE it! The nutty flavor of the quinoa is amplified when fried…lol thats a very catchy phrase isn’t it! The only change I made was to use fat free cream cheese instead of the cottage cheese and I added in a palmful of grated yellow onion (squeezed)…can’t wait to serve this to my family tonight! Thanks for this gem of a recipe!!!

Just made these today for the 2nd time and I made adjustments to the recipe – I only used 2 eggs, I use 1/2 shredded carrots and 1/2 zucchini shredded. I used 4% breakstone cottage cheese, because that’s what I had and also shredded baby swiss, because I had that from a quiche. I added garlic pepper in place of plain pepper. I also cook the quinoa with a vegetable bouillon cube so leave out extra salt. I put the mixture in the frig to cool before I lightly sautee’ each “burger”. I have dusted the burgers with light flour and that seems to help them stay together better. Hope these tips make a difference for you!

Just made these again. This time I used a combo of carrots and chopped fresh spinach. I cooked some in a skillet as directed and the rest in parchment lined muffin tins. Both are delicious! BTW, I forgot the sugar both times; what is it for? Thanks again for sharing your delicious recipe.

Made this tonight, but with a pound of ground bison as my husband has to have meat. Then I added the recipe to myfitnesspal.com to check the calories- there’s only 212 in each patty! I used a 1/2 cup to divide the mixture and it made 16 patties. I loved it! Thanks for the recipe!

I made this recipe again. This time I added canned salmon to it. I’ve made it with canned crab meat. Its just like having crab or fish cakes. Adding the crab or salmon will increase the calories but it will also up the protein. The crab has a lot less calories than the salmon.

I am one of the pickiest eaters alive! I HATE zucchini, and cottage cheese, and I dislike green onions and carrots. So I was pretty sure that this was going to be a mistake. Turns out I LOVE it!!! Absolutely delicious!!
I used 1 small-medium zucchini, 1 small-medium carrot, 2 eggs (that’s all I had), I also used twice as much garlic as it calls for, 1 cup of cheddar, and added a little Italian seasoning as well. This was SOO amazing! I can’t wait to try it out on my husband!!

Made these for dinner – amazing! Used carrots which were perfect. Next time I’ll probably use just two eggs (I’d recommend stirring after each egg until you reach the right consistency). Thanks for the yummy recipe.

If I didnt already have dinner prepared for tonight I would make these alas my tastebuds will have to wait another day. I will definetly be making these tomorrow with my kids favorite burger side, baked sweet potato fries and curried ketchup!

I just made these, Linda, and they are yummy. More importantly, my young son will like them. Do you think that there is a way to make them in the oven? I would like to make lots of them at once and freeze them.

Thank you so much, Linda. I appreciate that you are helping me move myself and my son into healthy and delicious foods. You do all of us such a great service and I am looking forward to making your falafel recipe next.

i made these today and they are soooooo good! but i added all of the ingredients into a recipe calorie calculator and got a totally different calorie count then you did…mine came out to 204 calories each patty and 7.7 grams of fat….any ideas why they are such different numbers? thanks

I made 12 patties and my husband ate 5 of them! These were great! We used egg substitute and dumped the rest of the quinoa in. Had no mayo for the fry sauce so we used Ranch dressing and ketchup! I think I will use 1/3 cups next time. Very Tasty! We gave them a 9 out of 10!

These were absolutely phenomenal. The only change I made was to swap curry powder and a dash of smoked paprika for the cumin (which I was out of). SO delicious! My picky 5-year-old ate a whole patty with spinach leaves (high praise from him), and my loves-almost-everything 3-year-old kept coming back for more.

2nd time I am making them except this time I don’t have eggs or carrots! I used extra grated cheese and red peppers. Also I am baking them this time. 1ST TIME they were great, we’ll see how these come out🙂

So, yeah…I expected these to be delicious based on the rave reviews, but I didn’t expect that they’d be so good that I’d end up uncontrollably eating three of them for dinner tonight!!! Well, what’s done is done🙂 I’m happy and full, and will exercise better self control next time! And I made the tzaziki sauce too which was delicious! Thank you for the recipe🙂

These smelled fabulous cooking, and the flavor was good… but they just wouldn’t hold together for me! Followed the recipe as instructed. After the first few just collapsed in the pan, added another egg and some more flour to the remaining batter which helped a little, but the batter was just so wet! Reading the other comments maybe need to cook the quinoa with less water next time, and use the small curd cottage cheese. There was just too much moisture in the mix. Burgers would not firm up. 😦

I made these for the kids’ lunch today. I was forced to leave out the green onions for fear they’d snub them, but I added some onion powder to make up for it. I also left out the cumin since I’m not a huge fan of it. I fried them in “nugget” size rather than as burgers. They were a hit with my (extraordinarily) picky kids!

AWESOME! Delicious and filled my kitchen with a wonderful aroma while cooking.

I’m sure the original recipe would be wonderful, but I had to make a few changes to accommodate my pantry and taste buds. I used the fresh carrots, onions, and garlic that were in my fridge. Had no cottage cheese so I used cream cheese instead. Cumin just didn’t seem like the right ingredient for my taste buds, so I eliminated it.

I let the cream cheese come to room temperature and whipped it with a fork to get a creamy texture. After beating the eggs, I reserved a few tablespoons of the beaten eggs (depending on the size of eggs being used) and slowly whipped the remainder of them into the cream cheese with a fork. After stirring in the flour, sugar, salt and pepper, I combined all of the ingredients In a large bowl. This is when I adjusted the consistency of the mixture by adding more egg or flour and cooked the patties according to Linda’s directions.

I recycled a Kraft parmesan cheese container with a sprinkle/pour lid and keep it filled with flour. I can then sprinkle or pour flour when I need only a small amount. To prevent the patties from sticking to my hands, I sprinkled flour into one hand and then dropped a dollop of the quinoa mixture into that hand. Then I sprinkled flour on top of the quinoa and gently patted it to get the proper thickness and shape.

Update: My husband is home from deployment and I pulled some of this out of the freezer a few weeks ago. I was in the kitchen cooking some for myself and he walks in and says “That smells delicious I want one.” I almost fainted then and there. So I put one on a plate, he ate the entire thing. Now let me tell you, my husband is THE pickiest eater in the WORLD!! I cannot get him to touch any of the ingredients in this recipe except the cheese.
So I decided to make them again tonight, I changed it up a little, I used 1 medium zucchini, 1 medium carrot, about 10 grape tomatoes about a cup and a half of fresh spinach, some fresh oregano, sauted half an onion, and a teaspoon on minced garlic and doubled the cumin, plus everything else it calls for (I threw most of this in the food processor to shop it up small enough to hide).
I added SO many veggies and it was still delicious!! I am AMAZED that both my husband and I will eat this and ENJOY it!! By far the best pin I have come across! He likes his on a bun with a slice of swiss and I like mine just the way it is!! I’m excited to copy this down and add it to my cookbook of favorites!

Hi Wanted to freeze these as I live alone, so I gingerly coated them in panko bread crumbs and baked in 400 degree oven on a well greased and sprayed cookie sheet (next time I wil use foil or parchment) they set up perfectly and brown wonderfully. I eat them without a bun with a side salad. Change up the spices and veg to suit my mood!
Mexican, italian, moroccan…asian… These are Brilliant! Thanks!

Mine were wet. Messy job on the turnover. I tried the first on a non stick pan with a ‘plastic’ spatula. No good. The I tried my cast iron skillet and a metal spatula. Better, but not good enough. Still messy. So I read through the comments and decided to add breadcrumbs. Much better. Prob a few more breadcrumbs will be even better. I did change something. I used one egg and the rest egg beaters. I wonder if that was part of the problem. Anyway, regardless, very tasty, esp with fry sauce.

I cooked the quinoa in chicken broth. I soaked brown lentils over night and put them through the open blank of my juice and used that for the cottage cheese. Used almond cheese. Can’t wait to try them. I used to make a lentil burger that is similar but not with quinoa. I’m glad so many people have tried this. Quinoa is amazing.

Getting ready to make these now! Going to use 1/2 carrot and 1/2 zucchini as I think they will both be great! Looking forward to trying them. Thinking I may save out some of the mixture to stuff red peppers wtih???

Love these, thank you!! I made them for dinner tonight and not only didn’t my 1 yr old and 3yr old love them but, my meat loving husband did too! I put my burger on a bed of spinach and drizzled some balsamic vinegarette on top and it was delicious (I omitted the sugar, used zucchini and carrots, and used GF all purpose flour and they turned out great). I’m going to add some red pepper and try baking them next time.

First time using Quinoa, rinsed them 1st as recommended by some sites. Took over 30 minutes for my Quinoa to cook:( Poured the mixture into the pan and they were really thin. They feel apart when I flipped them:( Just cooked them and it looked like a rice dish. Didn’t care because they were soooooo good. Maybe I should add more flour and leave out an egg. Would love any tips for making them into a burger thought. Can’t wait to make again!!

i really and truly LOVED these. i was most shocked by the fact that my ridiculously picky boy loved them as well. the only thing i did different was use mozzarella instead of cheddar, as that’s what i had on hand. really good. if i wasn’t so full, i’d eat another!

also, i did not use my hands at all. i scooped using a 1/4c measuring cup. i dropped them in the pan, and patted them down using the measuring cup. they did take a bit longer than 4 minutes per side, but that wasn’t a big deal at all. used a large enough pan that i was able to do 2 batches equaling 11.

I baked them off first, not totally but to almost completion, that really helped! I crumbled it up and put on a roasted red pepper (rather than stuffing it, sliced it open) put it in the broiler with a little goat cheese over it..DELICIOUS! My honey loved them too! Making another batch today! Will be making probably quite regularly as they are versatile!

I made a half recipe of these last night and made 7 little patties to serve as a side dish. They were FABULOUS!! I will definitely be making them again! Everyone liked them so that is always a plus for the cook. Thanks so much for this great recipe.

So I got sucked into reading everyone’s responses and was really tired, but excited by the time I finished all of them. I got to cooking, and these patties were a HUUUUUUGE hit with my picky 4- and 8-year olds and my husband and I loved them, too. I used both zucchini and carrots and added an extra egg and an extra Tbs of flour. A-MA-ZING! At first I didn’t understand why the the list of ingredients specified 2 cups of quinoa, since the actual instructions only call for 1 cup…now I know, because my family ate almost the whole batch (my husband took the remaining two patties to work the next day) and now they’re clamoring for more…and the second batch will be easy to make now that I have that 2nd cup of quinoa all ready to go. THANKS!

I’m a little lost, though, which isn’t hard to do!…I use 2 rounded cups of COOKED quinoa in the mixture. The 1 cup is UNCOOKED, with instructions how to cook it to make the two cups for the recipe. I’ll go in and make the directions more clear.

Regardless…I’m SO glad it worked for you and you are planning on making more!!

Really amazing tasting! I added an extra cup of grated cauliflower to the recipe and did half zucchini and half carrots, I think mine was a little wet because of the zucchini but I decided to bake it in my silicone muffin tin at around 300 for an hour and a bit and then broiled it on high for a few minutes and they are great! Easier for me than cooking them individually.

The sugar count is SO small when divided into 10 burgers that the nutritional counter says it’s zero – if there is any it would be less than 1 gram per burger.

Also, when I use Splenda, I use the one that measures the same as sugar. The powder that is in the packets is more concentrated than the same amount of regular sugar, but the “bulk”, measurable stuff has some fillers so it measures the same.

Has anyone tried baking these? I have made these twice and while my daughter loves them ( she ate 3 for dinner last night) they do not fry up as easily as stated. Much longer per side than stated and hard to do w/o burning. We have electric not gas. I am curious if these could be baked and if so for how long. This would also be a healthy option for us. Perhaps there is another ingredient needed to help them stay together better in patty/burger form. Otherwise love the taste. Thanks for any tips!

DEEEEELICIOUS!!! first time did exactly as the recipe says… made for the second time tonight with a couple substitutions with what I had on hand: Greek yogurt for cottage cheese & shredded broccoli stems for carrots. This is going to be a staple in our home now🙂 THANK YOU!

I made these for dinner tonight for my husband and me. As I was cooking them I thought they probably wouldn’t be anything special. Boy was I wrong. They were so good. We didn’t even need to put any kind of sauce on them because they were so good plain. The only change I made was to use tofu instead of cottage cheese and to add a veggie bullion cube to the cooking water for the quinoa.

I wanted to add that they cooked up very well for me. They were rather mushy and I cooked them on medium heat as suggested and waited until the first side was browned before flipping them. I had no problems. I used a green ceramic non-stick pan and also fried some in my regular stainless pan.

Yum yum yum!! Made these the other night and loved them! We didn’t have cottage cheese on hand so I subbed in non fat plain greek yogurt. We had some leftovers and I ended up eating them cold as in sandwich form and they were still awesome!

i followed this recipe to a T… and they turned out terrible! they didnt hold together and wanted to stick to the spatula. i did everything exactly to the recipe and i triple checked i didn’t miss any ingredient- which were all bought new & fresh. after printing it off and trying to make them, i came back online AGAIN to make sure it printed off right. the few i did manage to “cook” were overly eggy and spongy… they were also very bland. the very minor hint of cumin was just a tease. i have a newer stove and pans, there was no reason for them not to heat up nicely all over. i would certainly try them agian with a major makeover because while the recipe didn’t turn out for me i love the idea! i take tons of recipes off pinterest and i’ve never been so unhappy with the results. i can’t seem to figure out what i did differently than everyone else…

I make these about once a week. Hubby and I love them for sandwiches and snacks. I use a large cookie scoop to scoop them into a nonstick pan with about 1T of oil, then flatten them out into patties with the back of the scoop. Let them cook on low to medium to low until browned well, then flip them with a sturdy flipper. The best part about them, besides their deliciousness, is that if you are on WW, and use nonfat cottage cheese and nonfat cheddar, they are made of all power foods, except the 3 T of flour, which is negligible when divided out among the patties.

[…] eat plain, but I definitely don’t. This recipe is great because it you can do a lot with it. Here’s the link. I pretty much stuck to the recipe. I used grated carrot, much less cottage cheese (I only had a […]

[…] is another great recipe which I found on Pinterest. It’s from Linda over at Eating Well, Living Thin According to her description, this recipe originally used rice, not quinoa. I’ve not tried it […]

WOW, that’s a lot of burgers!! I’m not sure how yours made so much, but that’s good, I guess! I’ve made this lots of times – I do round the cup a bit – and usually come out with approx 10.

I figure the stats on the WHOLE recipe and then divide it, so, yes, two of your burgers would be the same stats as one of mine – as long as the total ingredient measurements for both of us stay the same.

I made these for dinner last night and they were delicious! I used goat cheese instead of cottage cheese and didn’t add the sugar. They turned out great! On toasted wheat with mixed greens, tomato and avacado…yum!!!! Thanks for the great recipe🙂

These are my absolute favorite! I have made them a few times, and everyone I feed them too raves about them. As a single 20 something girl, I also found that just making the mixture and cooking it all together in a pan like scrambled eggs made for GREAT salad mixture- just tossed onto some greens for lunch!

Last night I made them and made a few additions- I added 3/4 shredded sweet potatoe, 1 tbs dried basil leaves (instead of scallions, didn’t have any on hand), and quinoa flour to make it gluten free! I also baked them rather than fried them- about 40 mins @ 300F. They stayed together PERFECTLY, and I didn’t have to spend as much time flipping and making patties on the grill.

I never write comments on recipes but these were SOOOO good!! The only thing I added was a little cayenne pepper. I loved these! My husband really liked them too and he doesn’t care for Quinoa. Great to have a yummy, healthy, no meat option for dinner!

These were amazing!!! I’m a university student, the recipe was not that expensive and it made A TON of burgers that are absolutely delicious. This is a must have recipe forever and obviously very healthy!

i baked these in muffin tins (1 extra egg , 1 extra tbls flour) , baked in muffin tins at 275-300 for about an hour maybe hour and 15 m in. I dont like crust, so this was perfect for me. LOVE IT! thanks

[…] 6. Quinoa Burger – The creativity of amateur cooks just astounds me some days, and this quinoa burger is no exception. Meat is expensive on days without specials, so if you are having burger cravings just crack open a box of the magic grain and get cooking! […]

[…] folded over their lettuce like champs and didn’t even miss having a bun. Recipe found on “Eating Well…Living Thin (…er!)” I highly suggest you visit her blog – she has a great tzatziki sauce recipe to use as a […]

I just had to comment and tell you that I have made these 3 times in the last 2 weeks! They are SO delicious. I skip the onions because I don’t like them and the first time I made them my eggs where large and I had to add more flour to get them to sick together. Very versatile recipe. I like them with sour cream on top served with a side of mashed cauliflower. Super healthy and yummy. I love fast food but can actually talk myself out of stopping for a burger when I know I have these leftover at home =)

I’ve not tried it, but I think ground/pureed beans (garbanzos, pinto, kidney) would probably work well. If you can use eggs that will help them hold together – if not then adding a little water to make them “pasty” should do the trick.

If you try them, let me know – I LOVE bean burgers and the added quinoa would be fab!!

[…] I do most of my grocery shopping for each week on Saturday so by the time that Friday rolls around I tend to have a motley crew of ingredients left in my fridge to pair with my pantry staples. Last week my random fridge contents included leftover red quinoa, a carrot, a parsnip and a handful of green onions. All flavors that sounded like they would go really well together so I scoured the internet for leftover quinoa ideas and came across the prettiest little quinoa patties. […]

[…] be much time for blogging, so I wanted to send you off with this yummy little recipe for quinoa cakes I came across via my sister-in-law on Pinterest. I tried it out tonight for dinner and it was a […]

I made these for lunch today- awesome!! Served with a yummy homemade avocado/cilantro dressing! I was looking for a way to make them bite-sized to put in my son’s lunch so I baked them in my mini muffin tin at 350 for 15 mins. They turned out great, almost like little quiches. Thanks for the delicious recipe!

[…] Not only am I able to still have pizza as part of my healthy eating diet, but burgers too! Quinoa burgers, that is. I’m a big fan of quinoa, so it was easy for me to salivate over this picture from Eating Well…Living Thin. The reality… they were incredibly yummy! Again, these were easy to make too. The recipe makes a big batch, but you can freeze the extras; they freeze well. For the recipe, click HERE. […]

This has become one of my husband’s favorite recipes. I’ve made them several times already, today I am making a double batch just because we can never have enough. We enjoy them cold, too. I accidentally grabbed ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese at the grocery store, we’ll see how they come out, but so far it looks great! Thanks so much for this awesome recipe!!! Sometimes I don’t have green onions so I just use a bit onion powder or regular onions and it comes out fine. I can see where this recipe could easily be changed around depending on what you have on hand.

[…] it as a side dish with dinner. I have to find ways to make it for myself for lunches. I found this recipe for quinoa patties on my favorite place, Pinterest. It’s OUTSTANDING! Definitely a must try […]

Hej hej !! Thank you for the recipie soun great. I did burguer once but was with red lins instead of quinoa, now, I want to try this one. My only question if, shall I fry the onion and carrot first? or is better mix raw with the quinoa and then cook all together?? 🙂

Have made these several times and LOVE them! Most recently started a gluten free diet and didn’t have a replacement for the flour. Didn’t add any flour and they were still delicious!! I added extra carrot and also some zucchini to the recipe as well.

[…] one of my favorite go-to ingredients. Thanks to Eating Well Living Thin, I can even add it to my veggie burgers. And this time, I will chop the onions really small. Unlike that one time, which caused the burgers […]

Packed with a variety of nutrients, including iron and copper, it’s no wonder the Incas deemed this ancient seed “the mother of all grains.” Quinoa contains all the essential amino acids, making it a complete protein (perfect for vegans and vegetarians). It is also a great source of magnesium, which relaxes blood vessels and has been found to reduce the frequency of migraines. Researchers have found that consuming dietary fiber, specifically from whole-grain products such as quinoa, reduces the risk of high blood pressure and heart attack. taken off the abcnews on 21 superfoods

Just made these and they are really yummy!!! I used coconut oil instead of the olive oil in the skillet. As a life-long vegetarian (I don’t even know how to cook meat), I have made a lot of vegie-type burgers. One tip I use to help all my burgers to “set” is to COVER the skillet when you first put the burgers in the pan. The heat starts the cooking process for the top of the burger. Keep the pan covered until time to turn. The bottom should be browned and the top has a “cooked but not browned” look. Turn the burgers and leave UNCOVERED to keep the browned side more crisp. Cook until the 2nd side is browned. Thanks for the recipe! It’s a keeper!!!

[…] Exciting, I know – so I figured this week would be a good chance to try it out with these Quinoa Veggie Burgers in addition to the others. I’m serving this with Skinny Scalloped Potatoes and a green salad. […]

[…] recipe and the picture that went along with this was just so pretty. So thanks to a fellow blogger Eating Well Living Thin These where a success! I made a double batch so they could be put in the freezer and decided to […]

I made these again tonight and they were better than the first time. I think the first time I didn’t want to fry so I baked them. I forgot to put the flour in and I used ricotta instead of cottage cheese.

I need 1 thing clarified. Are the calories you have posted for 1/4 cup or 1/2? I ask because in my fitness pal which I track calories someone had already posted this burger from your site but saud it was for 1/2 cup. If you know the answer let me know. So yummy I added a slice of pineapple to my burger.🙂 and a little cayenne pepper.

I hate veggies…seriously, HATE THEM. I told my other half when we first met that veggies were the devil and lettuce smells like A**. I made these tonight because Mr. Man is a veg-head. I will admit defeat…they were so good! I used the zucchini instead of carrot and although it had cheese in it, I threw a slice of pepper jack on top. (Cheese makes everything right with the world!) NOM NOM NOM! They were seriously good. He loved em too! I ate, for the first time in my life, a completely vegetarian meal (that wasn’t pasta)! My only issue is they took FOREVER to cook and some didn’t stay together very well. I think either I didn’t squeeze the zuchs dry enough or I used too large a curd in the cottage cheese which tends to be more wet. Other than that…seriously good stuff.
Signed-
The slightly reformed carnivore🙂

These look amazing! I have a question, Linda. I overcooked some quinoa and instead of throwing it out I put in the freezer to make burgers at a later date. I just came across your recipe and am now wondering if I should even chance it with my “waterlogged” quinoa. How do you think it would be?

If, when thawed out, the quinoa is still super wet, you could try drying it out by spreading it on a cookie sheet and sticking it in the oven, at say 300 degrees, for awhile…stir it now and then. That may help it a bit!

These are quite moist, and that helps them hold together, so being slightly wet, the quinoa should be fine. If they are just tooooo sticky, add a little more flour or cornstarch and that should do it!!

Make them “mini” and freeze on parchment paper and it’s like healthy chicken nuggets for toddlers that they can’t resist. Make sure you double (or triple) the batch so you have enough for the next time.

Either way would be fine. Formed into patties and put on a PAM sprayed cookie sheet to freeze solid and then you can put them in ziploc bags and take as many as needed to fry. OR after they are cooked they freeze great separated by wax paper. I hope you love them too!!

[…] next day (sometimes i just have to trick myself into being responsible) The original recipe (seen here) suggests that you top the burger with a Tzatziki or that you can put avocado or tomato on it- […]

I made these tonight and found that my first 4 were not sticking that well and were falling apart when I flipped them. I came back to this blog to read some further comments and seen that some other people had this problem as well. I believe maybe my quinoa wasn’t dry enough? So I added a couple more teaspoons of flour….I also found that while these are on the frying pan to cover them and then they stick together great…the last ones that I made from this batch were flipping without falling apart! Yay! I am so happy I found this recipe, I will be making it again. Also any suggestions on how to get the quinoa dryer before adding it into the mixture?

I’m so glad you found my recipe and I’m thrilled that you love it! Thanks for the suggestions you gave on covering and such…that does make sense!

I find that even after the allotted time for cooking the quinoa is over, sometimes it’s still wet. I remove the cover and let it sit on the low heat – stirring every now and then – and it will dry out really well. Hope this helps!!

I just finished making this recipe less than a minute ago and OMG they are so good. I have been trying at least 5 different meatless burger recipes in the past month because of my vegetarian fiance. This is by far the best. Thank you.

I made two different badges because I didn’t have enough carrots, green onion and cheddar cheese. So one of the badges I sub them with red onions, green peas, and ricotta cheese, with some extra spice like curry powder. It still turns out amazing. As long as there are flours, eggs, and quinoa to keep everything together, this recipe can’t fail.. Love it!! Thanks again.

I just made these last night… And OMG!!! They were delicious. I skipped the eggs all together and didn’t squeeze dry the veggies and they still turned out to be amazing and did not fall apart. My 2 year old licked his fingers as he ate them and pushed my hand In his mouth to give him more🙂 yum yum yum. I think we will make more next time and just freeze them for whenever.
Thanks for an awesome recipe.

Disclosure: I am definitely NOT vegetarian/vegan but I do really enjoy veggies and experimenting with non-meat foods for variety, nutrition, and to save money.

I made these tonight and got 12 patties – I tried pan-frying the first two but even in a non-stick pan with a good tablespoon of oil they were sticking. I switched gears and baked the rest on a parchment lined baking sheet at 350*F for 25 minutes (flipping halfway through). Just form the patties (1/4 cup mixture each) on the baking sheet to about 1/2″ thick like you would in the pan. The baking method worked beautifully! If you want the crispy browning you can just quickly fry them in some oil or butter and they won’t stick or fall apart since they are already cooked through.

The flavor was good, though mild. My carnivorous husband thought they were pretty good too. My toddler was on the fence about them, but I think she’ll eat more when she isn’t in a bad mood like she was tonight. I did end up adding almost 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs since the mixture seemed a bit too wet – but they turned out very well in the end. I am freezing the leftover cooked patties and look forward to making these again and experimenting with various spices and flavor profiles. Thanks for the great recipe!

[…] to be on Pinterest when I came across an amazingly tempting photo of what turned out to be a ‘Quinoa Burger’. I couldn’t pass it up so I tracked down the recipe to Eating Well, Living Thin a blog […]

I made these today. I substituded ricotta cheese for the cottage cheese and added only 2 eggs. The consistency was perfect. I was able to shape them into patties using my hands. Next time I will add more spices.

[…] http://eatingwelllivingthin.wordpres…quinoa-burger/ that's my go to a few times a month. kids request them. i have altered the recipe quite a bit at this point, but they were still good the first time i made them before i'd doctored them so much. i will say that the sweetener is NOT necessary. you can do carrots or zucchini. any cheese. sub out sour cream or greek yogurt for the cottage cheese. change the seasonings. my kids love when i do mexican seasoning. they love the italian ones (i have added small pieces of pepperoni). i do mine on a griddle, so i can fit about 6-8 on there at once. much faster. i have found that rice flour works just as good as regular…i prefer it. if you up some of the ingredients by just a hair, you can add another egg and i find it works better. __________________ fmt […]

These look wonderful, and based on all the comments, they’re as good as they look! I plan on making them soon, but was wondering…I know you suggested Tzatziki sauce, but I’m not crazy about that. I was thinking of maybe a garlic aioli? Any suggestions?

These were a home run in my house! In the words of my super-picky cousin, “It’s so good I feel like I’m getting fat, but the fact that it’s actually healthy is magical.” My husband, who hates both quinoa and zucchini, ate four of these in one sitting.

I added a little cajun seasoning and served them on whole wheat buns with spicy garlic aioli.

I just made these and they turned out great! I used tri color quinoa and followed the recipe to a t and they stayed together. They came out more like pancakes but I plopped them down pretty thin. Next time I’ll be more careful but loved them!! Thanks for the recipe!

[…] Quinoa Burger — Made these this week and they are SO TASTY. They come out more like Egg Fu Yung than an actual burger patty, but if you play with the flour, it could probably come together a little better. We thought about adding some cornmeal next time. Gwen loved these, and TLJ ate them the next day for breakfast. Definitely a keeper recipe.Recipe link:https://eatingwelllivingthin.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/love-my-quinoa-burger/ […]

Let me start by saying I LOVE this recipe, thanks. But I have never been able to have the outsides come out crispy. If I cook them on low, they basically just steam – and when I turn the heat up they just stick. Although they are still yummy, I would love some advice about what I might be doing wrong. I am using a basic stainless steel skillet and light olive oil.

This is such a great recipe — thanks for sharing! I’ve made it twice so far (with a few minor adjustments depending on what was in our kitchen) and we have not been disappointed.🙂 They are also really good with a little ketchup (for those who aren’t sour cream fans).

I have made these many, many times and love, love them. My 5yo even requested them for his birthday dinner. One thing I found helpful to not have them fall apart so easily is to add all of the quinoa that is cooked. Not only do they stay as a nice patty, but I get a lot more of them. I always make the Tzatziki sauce, and in the summer I get to use our garden cukes. Thank you for this recipe!

[…] This is the recipe I used, but after three attempts to make them into burgers, and flip them on a pan, I gave up and put the remainder of the mix into a casserole dish and cooked it in the oven. I will prevent future frustration by making them as a casserole in future! It tasted great hot or cold as leftovers, and there was plenty of that. […]

These are great and I make them often – at my children’s requests! I love them with the Tzatiki sauce – especially when I have homegrown cukes.

After making them the first time and the patties not staying together as I would have liked (still tasted fantastic), I have added the full amount of quinoa that gets cooked and have no issues with them falling apart. This may help some of you.

Thanks to your wonderful recipe, I’ve made these exactly as written (including your helpful hints) and they have, every single time, come out beautifully. Thank you so much for your inspired recipe. We are having these again tomorrow! *Cheers*

DH just made these this evening for dinner…. AWESOME….. this is what i was looking for….. so delicious…..
only thing he changed was to crush 2 cloves of fresh garlic, rather than garlic powder (which we never have)…
thank you thank you thank you!!!!

This recipe does not even come close to the picture. This cannot even be considered a burger. They do not hold together and I followed it to a tee! Try again. Waste of a complete dinner. I can come up with something that will work much better myself.

I really liked these, but I’m a tiny bit confused with all the positive reviews, and not seeing any reviews about blandness. They were pretty bland. I’m going to add a lot more garlic and herbs next time. I loved the texture and I know it’s a keeper, but we love lots of flavor around here!

[…] This week marks the beginning of the meatless or vegetarian entrée dishes. Within my household, my older sister has been a vegetarian for approximately 9 years now, so majority of the time we are consuming vegetarian foods. My mom’s logic is that she would rather cook one vegetarian dish with maybe some meat on the side, rather than cooking two completely different dishes. I understand this completely because cooking can take up a lot of time depending on what you are making. And who wants to spend all day in the kitchen? Anyways, that being said, I needed to find a vegetarian dish that will satisfy everyone’s palettes. Like last time, I wanted to use/find other resources (online food blogs, websites etc) that will assist me in my creation. I went into Google and typed in vegetarian dishes. Once again the amount of options was overwhelming. Being seven weeks into my online learning project, I still happen to be taken back by the number of food websites/options. I happened to stumble upon this blog called, eating well living thin, and I was immediately pulled in by the layout and organization of the blog. I scoured the blog, literally making myself hungry because everything looked so tasty, but I eventually came upon one recipe, which I thought would be the perfect start to this category. It was difficult and requires me to learn some new skills, so I was all in to make Vegetarian Quinoa Burgers. […]

The burger looks absolutely delicious! I cannot wait to try it out. I’m trying to convince the rest of my family into switching to quinoa, and I am trying to get my hands on all possible recipes for that quest!

Hello, Stephanie! I would try a flax egg. For EACH EGG substitute: 1 tablespoon flax MEAL and 3 tablespoons water. Mix and let it sit for 15-20 minutes and it will get goopy and slightly slimy, just like an egg. (Don’t forget to make 3 batches for the 3 eggs…I would forget, I’m sure!)
Mix into the recipe as you would the eggs and continue on. This should work fine.
They might want to crumble a little bit, but form into patties in your hands and pack them together lightly and then place in pan. Gently turn. If they are having trouble, maybe add a little more cheese and this will help them stick together…but, really, they should be fine.
I hope this helps!

I made these for my family a few weeks ago. They were outstanding! The recipe makes a lot so I put the rest of the uncooked portion in the fridge and had again the next day. My husband said it tasted like hash browns and I agreed. So, instead of using the fry sauce again, we used catchup. Yum! Thank you.

Im one who just can’t follow a recipe, but love to change it up. I used mozzarella cheese, sprouted quinoa, anaheim pepper, jalapeno pepper, celery, coconut flour, 2 large eggs, regular cottage cheese. I fried a few patties in the olive oil,,, fantastic. I cooked some patties in the oven and made some into meatballs and ate with spagetti. What a great versatile And delicious recipe. I just used what I had in the kitchen…. and grow your own kale, mine has been growing for 3 seasons now….. it grows like crazy!!!!
thanks!!!

I can’t imagine why anyone would say these quinoa burgers are bland?? I thought they were very flavorful! I almost followed the recipe as is, but really appreciated the follow-up comments regarding adjustments, consistency, etc. So helpful! Here’s what worked for me:

Cooked quinoa in Trader Joes reduced sodium veggie stock (added flavor); used a zucchini AND carrot (squeezed dry 3 times); only 2 eggs – not 3, and it held together w/no issues. I fried half in EVOO (took much longer than stated time) & baked the others at 350 degrees for 25 min. using a dark pan for crispyness & found that frying them just isn’t necessary (saves unnecessary fat & sogginess). Served double patties on toasted whole grain flats with avocado spread/slices & NO liquid toppings! (You really miss out on their flavor if ketchup, etc. is used). I read through ALL the comments & took info from everyone & was very pleased w/the outcome. Delish recipe & will definitely become a regular in our household! Thank you for posting it! 😋

I just read your story and you should be so proud of yourself!! What you have accomplished is a total success. You look fabulous and more importantly your health is a priority. Thank you again for posting a creative, delicious and savory recipe.
I gave up meat years ago and still get excited when I make a new recipe that becomes a keeper. It will be made for years to come!

This is a great recipe!! Like others I changed it a bit to fit what I had available. I used ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese. I added a slice of tomato and sautéed fresh mushrooms on top of the burger. Love the cumin flavor! Delicious!!

[…] Quinoa Burger. I’ve been making this burger for years. The way the ingredients all come together, especially the melty cottage cheese, is fabulous! I make this frequently in large batches that MMR and I can heat up and eat on the go. He likes to eat them with a hamburger bun. Just give me a patty and a fork and I’m ready to go. I’ve never been one for buns. 😉 […]